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SMK air rifle


juwel-180
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Sad to say the gun snobs are out in force again.

Yes, the low-end SMK stuff is pants but we don't all have the dosh (or if we do, the inclination to spend it) to buy a top-end rifle.

The SMK XS36 underlever is probably not the gun for you however. It's big & on the heavy side (tho no worse in weight than a Weihrauch HW97). It also takes a little work & knowledge to get it to work & shoot smooth. The stock is a bit prone to nicks & the blueing isn't great. Other than that, the mechanics are reasonably solid

However, contrary to clearly uninformed opinion expressed by others, it's surprisingly accurate (10p sized groups at 20 meters & 30 meter kills, no problem)

If you still fancy an SMK, go for the XS20. Much better quality, the blueing & machining are excellent & it's a pound or so lighter. It's a good copy of the Weihrauch HW95K (or Beeman R9 if you like) right down to the copy of the Rekord trigger. Shoots around the 11.6 or 11.7 ft/lb mark. It's scopes only, so you'll have to factor in the extra cost of some optics, but then not too many use open sights for hunting.

The XS36 isn't made by the same manufacturer as the XS20 tho both imported into the UK under the SMK brand.

Don't waste your money on the custom stock version, it's not worth the extra. The standard stock is good enough & actually made from an exotic hardwood only found in the hills of China, tho rather boringly it just looks like a tight-grained beech. LOL

It's as accurate as you're likely to get with a non-tuned springer so take no notice of this "couldn't hit the side of a barn door" cobblers.

New will probably set you back £120 to £140 (which I accept is 2nd hand BSA money, so pays yer money & takes yer choice)

It was a bit disappointing to see some of the comments on this thread, as you might have expected to see knowledgeable & balanced opinion on an airgun forum.

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Problem is the build quality is so inconsistent on these. I accept some people do get a good one every now and then, but at least with a BSA or a Wacker its 'out of the box' top quality.

 

Fair enough if you are doing the odd bit of plinking in the garden or such, get one of these, but as soon as you start thinking about shooting at something with a face..........well its a different story.

 

And this is a balanced forum and the comments are a true reflection of the feeling towards cheap chinese air rifles. At the end of the day most members on here will tell it how it is and that is the best type of information available :lol:

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smk are ideal kids training guns but if you use them for hunting you will probably wound more than you kill cleanly, i would recommend putting your money towards a weihrauch or a bsa. smk is short for sportsmarketing it is a company that imports direct from china and if you applyfor a trade account they regularly have deals on rifles for as little as 10 pounds each! any gun that costs that cannot be any good!

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I wonder how many people looking down their nose have even help one of these rifles.

 

The QB/XS is more than capable of hunting on a budget, a bit of wet and dry here and there and they can be very accurate rifles, the only thing that lets them down is the noise and the power fluctuating due to the Co2 in different temperatures.

 

Like a lot of things you get good ones and bad ones, the good ones will put pellet on pellet at 40 yards.

 

A few words of advice though:

 

Chrono it before use, firstly to make sure it's up to power for the job you want it for and to check for power variation for the reason stated above about temperature.

 

You MUST chrono it if you have altered the rifle in any way, a friends brothers cousin knew some bloke that had a pet monkey that had one that firing at 14ftlb, with the first few shots of a new bulb it was well over that, obviously he filled his pants and made the necessary adjustments asap.

 

Don't ask me how he did it because I don't know!

 

 

P.S When the bulb is low empty it without using pellets otherwise you will get one stuck in the barrel, when a new bulb is screwed in a small amount of Co2 escapes through the rifle and out the barrel, the monkey mentioned above was very lucky the stuck pellet missed his face :good:

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I wonder how many people looking down their nose have even help one of these rifles.

 

The QB/XS is more than capable of hunting on a budget, a bit of wet and dry here and there and they can be very accurate rifles, the only thing that lets them down is the noise and the power fluctuating due to the Co2 in different temperatures.

 

Like a lot of things you get good ones and bad ones, the good ones will put pellet on pellet at 40 yards.

 

A few words of advice though:

 

Chrono it before use, firstly to make sure it's up to power for the job you want it for and to check for power variation for the reason stated above about temperature.

 

You MUST chrono it if you have altered the rifle in any way, a friends brothers cousin knew some bloke that had a pet monkey that had one that firing at 14ftlb, with the first few shots of a new bulb it was well over that, obviously he filled his pants and made the necessary adjustments asap.

 

Don't ask me how he did it because I don't know!

 

 

P.S When the bulb is low empty it without using pellets otherwise you will get one stuck in the barrel, when a new bulb is screwed in a small amount of Co2 escapes through the rifle and out the barrel, the monkey mentioned above was very lucky the stuck pellet missed his face :lol:

i started out with a b4 delux 22, me son a b2 177 and my bruvver an xs19k 22 and for startin guns when on a seriously low buget there ok and in the right hands reasonable huntin tools but you will soon be wantin to upgrade to a better rifle/make

eg.. an xs19 will set you back appx £250 new...for the same money you can by a 2nd hand air arms s200, reasonable scope and a bag ( i know this because thats what i did). the problem with smk is its a case of you get what you pay for there cheep for a reason

lee :good:

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  • 11 years later...

Actually, I have an smk B2, and an smk synsg, after a LOT of tinkering, my son can hit a coke can at 80 yards with the B2, with a fair amount of tinkering and some home made parts (spring guide and top hat milled on a lathe" and about 2 forests worth of Emery paper, I can hit a blackberry of a bush at 60 yards, and consistently put pellet through the hole the last pellet made on paper targets. An smk can outperform a the bsa's of wierauchs' you've been recommending, sure you can tinker and make those better, for a high cost, but for pennies I can turn an smk into a better rifle then the top brands. Don't buy into the corporate style thinking, "it costs more so must be better". If anyone has an smk they want improved for less that a box of crossmans, just ask, you pay postage and parts I won't even charge for labour coz its both therapeutic, fun, and a finger in the face of everyone that says you can't make an smk a good rifle or polish a ****, BOTH HAVE BEEN DONE

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As this topic is now 12 years old and it has been resurrected I would say the quality of many of the SMK branded guns has improved considerably, I`m not talking about the poor B2 and low grade underlevers but the Supergrade series and Remington branded rifles seem quite good for the money also the Artemis PCP rifles seem to be welcomed by quite a lot of shooters. 

As some may remember once upon a time the thought of driving a Skoda was well out of the question but things change and in many cases things improve as a result of this change.

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On ‎23‎/‎06‎/‎2007 at 19:15, loopy bunny blaster said:

smk's are brill! :good:

 

 

(for clubbing rabbits that didnt die first shot from your gunpower stealth that is) :look:

 

 

=p

How very dare you sir! I have a stealth and it is the finest looking James Bond space gun prop every!:P

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